Ali Kaffashian has stated that it is an honor to be ousted from his position as the President of the FFIRI by the General Assembly!
The comment by Kaffashian was in response to Amir Abedini who has started a move to dislodge Kaffashian from his position citing amongst various issues, the poor management and administration of the federation, poor planning and lack of strategic outlook , bad results by National football Teams representing the country.
“I welcome such a move, in fact , I will even show them how to do it (…) It needs 15 representatives to declare the no-confidence vote and if that quota is reached , then it will be my honor to be removed”.
Commenting on the results of youth teams, Kaffashian claimed that “Iran teams have not played so badly in the recent tournaments. We are not after results, in any case. Admittedly, the other Asian Teams have worked quite hard.”
Kaffashian reiterated the admission of committing a mistake in the arrangement of Iran’s U23 squad to Asian Games. “Originally we planned to send the U21 team to Incheon, but due to a last minute decision change, we added a few older players. This has disrupted the team rhythm”
“We are supposed to upkeep this U21 team and prepare it for the Olympics qualifiers. If we wanted to send this team to Incheon, where most of the opponents are sending their full strength teams, it would have been an unfair competition (…) !”
“Our aim is to keep Vingada until the Olympics. God willing, we will arrange a few friendly games to assess his work with the squad. After the analysis and review of those games, we will decide on our future relationship with Vingada.”
Kaffashian confirmed that Team Melli players, who have been suspended by the authorities for holding fake Military Service Release Certificates, will not be invited to Team Melli. The Head of FFIRI also confirmed that he will not interfere with Queiroz selection or lack of in regards to Aghili and Rahmati.
Ali Kaffashian is known for his contentious and controversial statements. Some amount of tongue-in-cheek is usually attached to his statements to add fun , according to his justification. However, he is going beyond the border of professionalism and authenticity by these latest statements. Not only is he covering the trues facts of the events, he is making a mockery of his position by sheer lack of knowledge or deceitful whatever the case might be.
No team is allowed to field more than 3 over-aged players in the Asian Games that has an age restriction of U23. Kaffashian’s statement that the other teams are fielding their full strength team is quite misleading. The last minute change of mind of the federation which led to replacing 7 players, was enforced by the Iranian Olympic Committees (IOC) policy that mandates teams/athletes representing Iran in Asian and Olympic Games must stand a chance of winning a medal. The Asian and the Olympic Games have never been a trial fields for athletes as Kaffashian is suggesting.
The Irony of all this is that Kaffashian , being an ex-executive of IOC , should have known this fact!
Kaffashian’s statement that he will be honored to be dislodged from his position is as zany as they come! Who, in his right mind, will be honored to be kicked out of his job?
In hindsight, it will be an honor for all Iranian fans if he is actually removed or replaced but given a decent farewell party and a thank you for a job that was not very well done. Someone else, less talkative more industrious, a strong leader, knowledgeable decision-making, a veteran in sports administration should be given the opportunity to turn the fortunes of football in Iran.